1. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to an apparatus for providing a three-dimensional reference image for aspiring artists and art students. More particularly, this invention provides a much needed three-dimensional reference of a human or animal figure in unnatural or non-traditional poses, such as flying or martial arts combat, often required of comic book superheroes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Artists' reference figures of human and animal bodies, also known as manikins, have been in use for many years. The manikins available today are typically bound to a rigid rod at the manikin's center of gravity and attached to a small flat plate for displaying the manikins on a table. The manikin provides the artist with a reference figure of the human body in natural upright or seated positions. This way the developing artist is able to produce remarkably lifelike images without the cost of hiring a live model.
Art schools traditionally use live models or various human or animal manikins for instruction. Comic book characters often assume poses that are unnatural such as flying or mid-air combat. Accordingly, the comic book artist seeking a reference model is forced outside traditional instructional materials where he uses children's action figures as references. Dynamic figure drawing is an essential skill for the comic book artist. Even when the comic book artist obtains a suitable action figure, it is very difficult to imagine that figure, whether human or animal, in the nearly infinite variety of poses which the action hero must inevitably take. The poses of the comic book character often place the figure into deep space showing the figure in radical foreshortening. Such poses cannot be achieved using the existing manikin technology.
In addition to the above concern, the drafting table used by the artist is often an angled table on which it is not suitable to place a traditional manikin stand. The drafting table is also subject to various forces during use, such as the leaning force of the artist's elbows and the forces applied while using artist's instruments. Traditional manikin stands do not rest easily on angled surfaces and do not withstand tipping over under the ordinary forces experienced by the drafting table.